Electrowriter



March 23, 1954 c. HERZSTARK 2,673,280

ELECTROWRITER Filed Feb. 5, 1950 Patented Mar. 23, 1954 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTROWRITER Curt Herzstark, Mauren, Liechtenstein Application February 3, 1950, :Serial No. 142,140

This invention relates'to an electro-writer, and more "particularly an electro-writer or electroengraving device'for metallic goods in which'the burning pin is arranged on a linearly movable armature of a circuit interrupter comprising a burning pin and an .electro-magnet.

Itrha-s already been proposed heretofore to construct an velectro-writer in which the burning pintiszarranged on the free end of a leaf spring secured :on one .end. In this iknown device, it happens that owing to :the nearly massdess spring, the current interruptions appear very quickly one after the other. Accordingly, 'the burning pin .also operatesyery quickly, andthere is produced'upon the piece of metal to be provided with'a writing, a closelyladjacent arrangement of individual points. This apparent advantage, however, has to be compared with the great .disa'dvantagethat owing .to the one-sided attachment of the leafspring, the burning point is moved in an arc; and, therefore, when the woi'k pieces are secured in diiferent elevations, the burning "pin :is :very easily moved away from the center of the engraving axis. In such an example; the writing which is produced .is distorted.

Anotherelectro-writer of known construction attempted to overcome the foregoing disadvantage bymounting the burning-pin in the center of a-massive bar which by means of two .parallel s'tationarybolts is guided by means of springs. In .thisdevice, the burning pin will always be movedlinearly or in a straight .line. However, this device on the otherhand'has the draw-back that the entire device is too heavy in construction, whereby during the movement of the burning pin, relatively high resistance to friction has to be overcome. This particular disadvantage results in a movement of the burning pin which is too slow, so that a quick closely adjacent arrangement of the individual points of the writing cannot be created, and the result is that the writing produced leaves much to be desired.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved electro-writer which combines the advantages of the known devices and overcomes the various disadvantages thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electro-writer in which the writing produced thereby is not distorted.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electro-writer in which the burning pin will be always moved substantially linearly or in a straight line.

A further object of the invention is to provide 2 Claims. (01. 219-15) an electro-writer with a leaf spring construction of low mass and aburning pin construction which operates with small frictional resistance.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an electro-writer which produces a line formed by a closely adjacent arrangement of individual points which appears to be solid irre spective of the differences in elevation of the work pieces.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electro-writer adapted to be used with a pantograph and which is controlled by the pantograph in accordance with a multiple enlarged pattern whereby only thin writing is produced according to the form of the pattern when the burning pin is correctly positioned in the axis of rotation of the pantograph.

The electro-writer of my invention embodies a leaf spring secured at oppositeends to aframe to form an armature .of .a current interrupter. The burning pin is arranged in the center of the leaf spring construction. The leaf spring is nearly without any mass and therefore the spring vibrates very rapidlyso that the burning pin produces numerous points along a .line .so that the line appears to be solid. In addition, the linear movement of the burning pin remains unchanged even though the work pieces have different thicknesses.

The foregoing and further objects hereinafter appearing are attained by 'meansof the preferred embodiment of the electro-writer illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the electro- Writer of my invention; and,

Figure 2 is a bottom View of electro-writer illustrating the leaf spring construction.

Referring more particularly to the figures of the drawings, the eleotro-writer is illustrated as of conventional appearance and is. preferably used in conjunction with a pantograph (not shown). ihe electro-writer is provided at its lower portion with downwardly projecting narrow flanges l formed on a body 2 of insulating material. A thin leaf spring 3 is secured at its opposite ends to the flanges l by screws 4 in such a manner that the spring can oscillate.

In the center of the leaf spring 3 is mounted a clamping head 5 adapted for clamping thereto a burning pin 6 fabricated from tungsten. The leaf spring 3 together with the clamping head 5 forms an armature of an electro-magnet l which is provided with terminals for connecting to a suitable source of electrical energy for the energization thereof and which is mounted in a 3 central bore 8 of an elongated portion of the body 2.

The electro-magnet 1 is adapted to be adjusted longitudinally in the bore 8 by means of a longitudinal slot 9 provided in the elongated portion of the body 2 and an adjusting screw [0 extending through the slot 9 and into the electromagnet 1. By adjusting the electro-magnet 1 axially in the bore 8, the stroke of the armature formed by the leaf spring 3 and the clamping head 5 may be adjusted as desired.

The operation of this device is conventional. The electric current passes through the winding of the electro-magnet I which attracts the armature thereof provided by the leaf spring 3 and clamping head 5. This movement of the armature interrupts the current passing through the burning pin 6 and the metal work pieces (not shown) whereby the spark appearing between the burning pin 6 and the metal work piece burns into the work piece a point of the writing. Because of the nearly mass-less leaf spring, there are produced current interruptions within extremely short time intervals. These current interruptions cause the production of numerous individual points which are very closely placed adjacent each other so that in fact solid lines are produced which provides a beautiful writing, regardless of whether the work pieces are mounted at difierent elevations, because even when the elevations of the work pieces are differcut, the burning point 6 moves always vertical with respect to the surface to be provided with the writing.

It is thus evident that the electro-writer of the invention is of simple and sturdy construction and may be economically fabricated.

Furthermore. the disclosed electro-writer is readily adapted for producing beautiful writings even when the work pieces are clamped in position at difi'erent elevations.

It will re read ly understood that the device described can be made in various forms and sizes, without departing from the spirit of the invention; and, it will be further understood that I do not limit myself to the particular construction disclosed in the drawings and described in the specification, the scope of the invention being defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An electro-engraving device adapted to produce writing on a metallic work piece, including an upright body of insulating material and having a lower transverse portion, narrow flanges projecting downwardly from opposite ends of said transverse portion and having lower faces arranged in a horizontal plane, a leaf spring extending parallel to said transverse body portion and secured with its ends to said lower faces of said narrow flanges, a clamping head being secured to the center of said leaf spring, a pointed pin extending downwardly from said clamping head and being provided for engaging the work piece to be engraved, said upright body being provided with a longitudinal bore in axial alignment with said clamping head and pin, and an electro-magnet mounted in said bore with its lower end in spaced relation to said clamping head, which latter, including said leaf spring, constitutes an oscillating armature for said electro-magnet.

2. An electro-engraving device adapted to produce writing on a. metallic work piece, including an upright body of insulating material and having a lower transverse portion, narrow flanges projecting downwardly from opposite ends of said transverse portion and having lower faces arranged in a horizontal plane, a leaf spring extending parallel to said transverse body portion and secured with its ends to said lower faces of said narrow flanges, a clamping head being secured to the center of said leaf spring, a pointed pin extending downwardly from said clamping head and being provided for engaging the work piece to be engraved, said upright, body being provided with a longitudinal bore in axial alignment with said clamping head and pin, and an electro-magnet mounted in said bore with its lower end in spaced relation to said clamping head, which latter, including said leaf spring, constitutes an oscillating armature for said electro-magnet, and means for adjusting said electro-magnet longitudinally insaid bore.

- CURT HERZSTARK.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,394,965 Bourne Oct. 25, 1921 1,434,374 Lenion et al. Nov. 7, 1922 1,846,326 Flint Feb. 23, 1932 1,948,452 Young Feb. 20, 1934 1,984,809 Requa Dec. 18, 1934 2,079,310 Bennett May 4, 1937, 2,161,342 Francis June 6, 1939 2,280,893 Cox Apr. 28, 1942 2,356,961 Weyandt Aug. 29, 1944 

